Spas, hot tubs and soaking tubs are a very popular way for people to relax, reduce stress and warm or heat their bodies. The various spas may or may not have internal water jets. Spas, hot tubs and soaking tubs are particularly popular and desirable in geographical areas where the temperatures get cold, such as below freezing.
In a typical hot tub the temperature can be set or directed to any one of a number of different temperatures, depending upon the desire or goals of the user of the hot tub, spa or soaking tub. A typical setting for a jetted hot tub in a colder climate would be an upper temperature of 103 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
A typical prior art hot tub cover is illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 1A. FIG. 1 is an elevation perspective view of a prior art hot tub 101 with hot tub sides 106, illustrating a typical two-sided hot tub cover with first side 102 and second side 104 being shown. The hot tub cover lift arm 108 is generally pivotally fixed to the hot tub at a location below the cover and has a top bar portion 108a which is generally positioned across the middle of the hot tub cover so that either side of the hot tub cover can be pivoted around the top bar portion 108a (the pivoting illustrated by arrows 103 and 105) to open up half of the hot tub, or to continue by pivoting the lift arm 108 as shown in FIG. 1A (arrow 107) to allow the entire hot tub cover to be pivoted to the side and out of the way so the entire top portion of the hot tub 101 is accessible.
Although the typical hot tub covers have some insulation value, in many cases there is a need for the advantage of providing further insulation (such as an insulating blanket) to the heat within the water in the hot tub, spa or soaking tub, especially in colder climates. Such additional insulation will result in an energy savings and consequently economic savings to the user year-round as the user is typically attempting to insulate a mass (the body of water) to keep it at the desired temperature (generally 103° F. or 104° F.).
One way to provide the additional insulation is an insulating blanket that can be placed on the top surface of the water. These insulating blankets are generally known for placing on swimming pools and they would be made of a plastic like material and typically would have several encapsulated air compartments or bubbles which provide additional insulation and cause the blanket to float on the water line or surface of the water.
While in typical swimming pool applications these insulating blankets utilize large rollers to remove them from the surface and manage them when not covering the surface of the water. However this is not practical with a spa, hot tub or soaking tub. Some hot tub owners will custom cut an insulating blanket and place it on the surface of the water, but when they remove the hot tub cover they then must deal with pulling the blanket off and placing it somewhere out of the way while the hot tub is being accessed. This becomes very inconvenient.
It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that there is a need for a hot tub insulation system which can minimize or eliminate the inconveniences of dealing with the use of insulation blankets in a hot tub scenario.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a spa, hot tub or soaking tub cover and insulation system which more easily removes, stores and reapplies an insulating blanket for use on the top surface of the water in the spa, hot tub or soaking tub.
Because it is not uncommon for users of the hot tub to only use half or less of the hot tub, and thereby only pivot one-half of the hot tub cover onto the other half to allow access, another object of this invention is to provide such an insulation blanket cover system which may be utilized in the two different hot tub cover configurations, i.e. when only half of the hot tub is being accessed and when the entire hot tub is being accessed and the entire cover has been removed.
It is also an object of some embodiments of this invention to provide such a system wherein the insulating blanket may be removed and reapplied independent from the hot tub cover or in other embodiments, the insulating blanket may be attached to or integrated with the hot tub cover, all contemplated by various embodiments of this invention.
Other objects, features, and advantages of this invention will appear from the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings which form a part hereof. In carrying out the objects of this invention, it is to be understood that its essential features are susceptible to change in design and structural arrangement, with only one practical and preferred embodiment being illustrated in the accompanying drawings, as required.